Every wedding is special, priests will tell you-but when things don't go as planned, some are more "special" than others.

Including children and dogs in a ceremony, frequently requested these days, can lead to unintended consequences, says Canon Judy Rois, executive director of the Anglican Foundation of Canada, and a parish priest for some 30 years.

Soon after The Rev. Claire Miller arrived at her new parish of St. Thomas Anglican Church in Owen Sound, Ont., she complained to a parishioner about feeling drained. Now, years later, she still remembers his response.

In the modern world, most of us live highly specialized lives. We generally assume that it is more efficient to trade our time for pay and then to pay other people for their time rather than doing things like growing food and making clothes ourselves.

Rod Andrews knows what it is to be forever connected to a chunk of land and a way of life. There's a special quality in his voice when he talks about the family farm, on Alberta's Coal Trail between Delburne and Red Deer.

The diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador is a place of contrasts. In its centre, St. John's, wealthy property developers rub shoulders with fishermen and oil workers just back from Alberta's Fort McMurray. In its farthest-flung regions, priests drive for hours to visit remote parishes in Labrador.

The five novels (at least two more are planned) that comprise George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series defied conventional cinematic adaptation: with numerous characters, far-flung locations (everything from deserts to great cities to a wintry wasteland) and complex plots, each of the books was too involved to fit within the confines of even a long movie.

The Anglican Journal is the national newspaper of the Anglican Church of Canada. It is published 10 times a year and carries 19 regional newspapers that provide important local information for Anglican dioceses. The website of the Anglican Journal—anglicanjournal.com—keeps visitors informed with daily news of interest to Anglicans across Canada and around the world.